I'm looking at either a 5770 or a 5870 depending on what the cash situation is after i pickup an asus board, phenom ii 955 BE and some crucial ddr3. The board i'm looking at has a 4290 onboard so I might just bum around with that for a month or two til I can spring for the nicer 5870. 700+ watts might be a bit overkill, but the thermaltake i have now has lasted since 2004, and would barely be enough according to some calculators i used, so i figured might as well spring for a new one that will future proof any new vid cards and i'm sure my capacitors have degraded a bit too.

This will be the first ATI card since I threw away my 2nd dead radeon 8500 several years back and switched to nvidia. hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass xD

my native rez is anything up to 2048 x 1536 cause I'm using this older (and friggen heavy) badass 22" flat-CRT Second monitor is a 19" that goes to 1600x1200. The second monitor might get replaced with a widescreen LCD at some point, but that's a ways off.

The reason I'm leaning toward the 5870 is cause of it's 256 bit bus and 2x stream processors/transistors vs 57xx. though the 370-410 price point keeps me looking at that 5770

One thing that the 5770 has going for it is that it can often be had for <$150. With its power consumption being as good as it is, it's a natural choice for Crossfire, and 2 5770s are faster and cheaper than a 5870.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

I'd not really planned to go with crossfire as the board I'm looking at reverts to x8 lanes when the two pic-e 2.0 lanes are both in use. It'd be another 40-80 bucks to bump up to a board with the 890FX chipset (the board I'm looking at uses 890GX) to get 2 pcie 2.0 x16 lanes to use. Which puts 2 5770 and 1 5870 at pratically the same pricepoint.

Well if you want to game at anywhere near that you really don't want to skimp too much on a GPU - The 5770 should definitely be your minimum starting point.

Speaking of high rez outputs... almost exactly 6 months since my samsung 305T started playing up, the Dell 3008WFP arrived today. I love the connectivity support - 2 x DVI-D, HDMI, Display Port, plus the others. A friend bought over his PS3 and the 1080p scaling performed admirably with audio handled via monitor internal audio out which includes 5.1 support.

Fig.1. After Spending the last few months at 1024x768, Femshep and Kasumi can again strut around in glorious 1600p!

If displays are your thing, and you don't mind paying a premium for it, this is one decent monitor There are a few other more esoteric 1600P displays out there preferred by high end graphical professionals, but at $10K+ even I'm not that silly

Anyone had any experience with the new XFX PSU's? I'm looking to put together a new system and found that SeaSonic (a PSU Mfg I trust) made the PSU's for XFX's foray into the Power Supply market.

Been looking at his one because it was rock solid in johnny guru's tests

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else had an XFX here with any good/bad experiance.

I missed this earlier. Seasonic makes quality PSUs for several brands such as Corsair and Antec, and it's very possible to get essentially the same unit, but wearing a different badge, for a lot less. Take the True Power New 750W, for instance. Like that XFX, at heart it's a Seasonic M12D and it also sports a 5-year warranty, but I've seen Newegg sell the Antec for as low as $70.00 after rebate with free shipping, which is half of what they're selling that XFX model for, and it's the same PSU. I'm pretty sure that one of Corsair's 750W models is also the same unit, but I'm not sure which one. I'd just get whichever one you can find the best deal on whenever you're ready to buy it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acdcfanbill

I'd not really planned to go with crossfire as the board I'm looking at reverts to x8 lanes when the two pic-e 2.0 lanes are both in use. It'd be another 40-80 bucks to bump up to a board with the 890FX chipset (the board I'm looking at uses 890GX) to get 2 pcie 2.0 x16 lanes to use. Which puts 2 5770 and 1 5870 at pratically the same pricepoint.

Single-GPU is usually preferable to multi-GPU, but in this case dual 5770s would be cheaper to get. While there is a loss of performance while running at x8, remember that PCIE 2.0 has twice the bandwidth of 1.0, so 2.0@x8 is like 1.0@x16 and is pushing nearly 4GBs/sec, so the loss in performance, while measurable, isn't that great like it was with 1.0 (note the difference between X48 @x16 and P45 @x8). In other words, you wouldn't have to spring for the better motherboard at all. Two 5770s would still be faster than a single 5870 on that same motherboard, even at x8. You could also get one 5770 at first and then wait for a killer deal on a second one. A couple of years ago I would've never recommended doing this, but support for SLI/Crossfire has improved so much lately that it's become a really attractive option, IMO, especially with a great bang/buck card like the 5770.

Finding the best deal on computer parts is sort of a(n) obsession hobby of mine, so, if you want, I could keep an eye out for deals on what you're looking for. You wouldn't believe some of the deals I've come across.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

good suggestion about the antec version of that seasonic psu. Never used them before, but the review seems to put it at pretty solid, and it's currently $20 bucks cheaper than the xfx on newegg.

I think I'm pretty much leaning toward 5770 atm, but I still might give it a few weeks to mull over. I'm thinking about ordering my cpu/mobo/psu/ram this week though. So I wouldn't be adverse to you keeping your ear to the ground for some 5770 deals

bah, screw ATI altogether. After reading stuff for the last week or so, I think i'll prob just save up and get a nvidia 470. Needed a pretty compelling reason to switch from nvidia and i'm just not feeling it

bah, screw ATI altogether. After reading stuff for the last week or so, I think i'll prob just save up and get a nvidia 470. Needed a pretty compelling reason to switch from nvidia and i'm just not feeling it

I agree with Astro. I'm certainly no fan of Nvidia, but their drivers have proven themselves (to me, at least) to be more trouble-free with the games that I play than ATI's and they're definitely a lot easier to use. Sure, they've had the occasional hiccup, and, as a matter of fact, there was one just recently, but that's why I usually hold off on updating my drivers for a week or so until I know that everything's cool.

It sucks that ATI's drivers are such a pain, because their hardware is actually very good.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

It sucks that ATI's drivers are such a pain, because their hardware is actually very good.

time out for a sec. since when did ATI have bad drivers all the sudden?? sure, their drivers were nothing to shout about several years ago, but i can't say the same about their current drivers. these drivers have been rock solid for me, and if you're talking about "bloatware", give me a break. yeah it uses more memory than Nvidia drivers, but if you're running 4GB+ of RAM, then what difference is 6-7MB really going to make??

the past couple of driver releases have been bang on, too. ATI has been doing a great job of keeping their drivers up to date in regards to the latest and greatest games coming out, and their support for other features like Eyefinity and Crossfire are consistently improving with each release.

and yes, i do have room to complain about Nvidia's drivers. on my old system, their drivers were the cause of my system's instability (as in BSOD instability). low and behold, switching to an ATI card fixed the issue.

as for your current predicament, acdcfanbill, i'd have to say that you should consider a 5850 instead of a 5870 or a GTX 470. its considerably lighter on the power draw, and the difference in performance really isn't all that bad. its also a shorter card, too, and that makes it more desirable if you're working in a more confined case. since its a slower part, you save some money, and you'll save money in the long run as well with the power savings.

Well, the reason I dumped ATI was KotOR, and that was years ago, so my view could be a narrow one. Perhaps they have improved since then, but even today, just about every second or third request for help in the Work Bench involves some poor bastard trying in vain to get KotOR to run on an ATI card, while, aside from having to use the Dantooine lag fix, I've never had any trouble getting it to run on Nvidia hardware.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

other guys might ahve other links, but i ususally just look up the recent reviews on toms hardware. they are sometimes behind on mobos/chipsets so you might look elsewhere for those. they have good cpu/gpu charts, and usually monthly best bang for buck per price brackets.

AMD is supposed to be releasing Bulldozer, which is the first major redesign of their CPU architecture since the Athlon 64, sometime in the near future. I'd wait and see how it compares to Intel's Sandy Bridge. Since it's a complete redesign, there's no way of telling until it's released and benchmarked.

After all of the setbacks that AMD has suffered in recent years I hope it's a beast.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

I'd like to upgrade my PC and I'm having some trouble deciding. The main thing I'm aiming at is getting a better processor. The one I got now, is a Core 2 Duo with 2.13 Ghz. I'd like to use that one for another rig composed of spare parts. So I was first thinking of buying an i5, but then I'd need to buy another motherboard and new memory. Seeing as I've already bought a few motherboards, I'm not sure I want to change again for the foreseeable future. Besides, this would cost me quite much, considering I'm also going for a SSD drive.

So I was wondering if upgrading from a Core 2 Duo to a Core 2 Quad is still worth it. Will it be able to hold its own for the games of the next 2 years? Won't I miss the advantages of SATA III and DDR3 in the mean time?

So after a few hours of research, I have put together a list of parts for my computer. I am not entirely sure all of the stuff is compatible, i am mostly sure, but i want to make sure. Also if you guys know of any better deals on the stuff, please tell me.

I'm curious, any specific reason you're going with the Thermaltake Lvl 10 GT case? I'm asking because a CoolerMaster HAF 932 or HAF X would cost ~$100 and $80 less, respectively. I've been very happy with my 932 for the past 2 years, and from what I've been hearing, the only advantage the Level 10 has to a noticeable extent is looking nicer (Though IMO, the HAF looks fine, if not better; I'm not sure why some people hate the look so much).

Unless there's an advantage I haven't been made aware of (entirely possible, please tell me what it is), or you're rich enough that spending $100 more for a case you think looks a bit nicer (in which case, can I borrow some cash? And by borrow I mean take and never return), I would recommend looking at the X and 932 as cheaper options.

I was considering those till I found this one. I think it looks cooler, but the main thing is how it holds your harddrives. Since I constantly open up my computers to flop drives, having a convienient little hatch for each drive seems like a cool thing to have. It also comes with more USB slots, and it's a bit roomier.

I'd like to upgrade my PC and I'm having some trouble deciding. The main thing I'm aiming at is getting a better processor. The one I got now, is a Core 2 Duo with 2.13 Ghz. I'd like to use that one for another rig composed of spare parts. So I was first thinking of buying an i5, but then I'd need to buy another motherboard and new memory. Seeing as I've already bought a few motherboards, I'm not sure I want to change again for the foreseeable future. Besides, this would cost me quite much, considering I'm also going for a SSD drive.

So I was wondering if upgrading from a Core 2 Duo to a Core 2 Quad is still worth it. Will it be able to hold its own for the games of the next 2 years? Won't I miss the advantages of SATA III and DDR3 in the mean time?

My first question is what is the make and model of the current mainboard your Core 2 Duo is installed in? We need to determine what type of Intel processors it can support.

After a cursory search it looks like Core 2 Quads still cost a pretty penny. The Core 2 Quad Q9505 is listed for 180,11 euros at Microstar.be

I'm not too concerned about the lack of DDR3 support your system would have. SATA III may be another matter but probably a minor concern. Without accounting for your graphics card, I do think upgrading to SSD and Core 2 Quad should keep you playing new games for another couple of years though.

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Motherboard is an Asus P5K-E/WiFi-AP. I think I bought the thing because of the chance I could upgrade to a Quad if I ever wanted to, and looking at the CPU Support list, it does support both older and newer versions of the Quad Core. Also, I might go for a Q8400, which is significantly cheaper and can hold its own against the Q9400, if hardware reviews are anything to go by.

The graphics card is another thing I'd wanted to upgrade, but all in good time. It's an 8800GT 512mb. It's getting a hard time when playing the heavier games, but in my opinion, getting more processor power is a priority right now.

At this point, you might want to look on the Euro version of Ebay, or the US version for sellers who ship internationally, and get a used C2Q from a reputable dealer. You could probably score a Q9550 for the same price as the cheaper CPUs, or get a Q9400 or Q8400 significantly cheaper than a new one.

Also, if you want to save some money, have you considered overclocking your C2D? If yours is an E6400, you could increase its clock speed by at least 1GHz.

EDIT: Even a Q6600 would be a good upgrade option for you, especially if you overclocked it.

The best deal in Nvidia cards, at least for the moment, is the GTX 460 768MB. I have no idea what sort of deals are going on in Europe, but I got a Galaxy model for $80 after a massive rebate last December. It's still a pretty competent card, and it's much faster than anything else in the $100 price range.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

Supposedly, when it comes to gaming, the more the better, but, according to Anandtech Bench, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference; at least not in the benchmarks that make up its testing suite.

Actually, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between the Q8400 and the Q9450, which has the full 12MB of L2.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

Thanks guys. I think I am going for the Q8400. I'll see if I can get it somewhat cheap. A GTX 460 (or even 480) was the initial plan, but I'll wait a few months and see if there's even a better deal then. The only issue I can see is the graphics card not fitting into the case, which is an Antex Three Hundred and doesn't allow for a lot of room.

Good luck with finding a good deal on a Q8400 Miltiades! Will this be your b-day present to yourself? Also, if you plan on overclocking then it's probably a good idea to invest in a good aftermarket cooler. Let us know if you're looking for any recommendations in that area.

Q,
Interesting how the Q8400 and the Q9450 are clocked at the same 2.66 GHz. But the Q9450 with its 12 MB L2 cache has a minimum 3 FPS advantage in all the tested games versus the Q8400. However L2 cache is expensive and IMHO 3 MB L2 cache per core is overkill for most uses.

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The models with more cache do much better in software that takes advantage of it (like archiving and video editing), and they scale better at higher clock speeds, which makes them more desirable for overclockers.

I, too, would recommend an aftermarket heatsink, because the ones that Intel packs with their CPUs are woefully inadequate, even at stock speed.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

I have no idea how much it would be in Europe, but it's available for $29.50 from Amazon, so don't let Newegg's ridiculous price-gouging fool you. I used their ad because it's got the best description and pics.

EDIT: That Antec 300 (which is a great case for the money, BTW) shouldn't have any problems fitting just about any modern video card. My GTX 460 is actually a good bit shorter than your 8800GT.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

Me too and I second this recommendation. I've been quite satisfied with the Hyper 212 Plus's cooling performance. I'm not sure how much noise the fan produces but it supports PWM so the fan speed varies depending on how much the CPU is being used.

Want to battle against cancer and other chronic diseases? Join Team LFN!

My only other advice would be that, unless it now ships with vastly superior ThermalFusion 400, you should use a different thermal compound than what Cooler Master supplies with that 212 Plus. The plain Cooler Master stuff is terrible.

Here is a fairly up-to-date list of some of the better thermal compounds.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."